From Library Journal
The writers featured here came to prominence during this century-about the only restriction apparent when surveying the 200 entries in this biobibliography, which has been endorsed by the ALA-Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Even the descriptors in the title are interpreted broadly: though his same-sex longings are well established, Thomas Mann is hardly a "gay writer"; and neither filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder nor sociologist/historian Lillian Faderman are known for their literary stylings. Surprisingly, this breadth is the work's strength. The advisory board (mostly librarians) has done an outstanding job of presenting a group of authors and works that forces the reader to develop a multifaceted view of what "gay and lesbian literature" is. The entries follow a standard format: After a brief chronology of achievements, bibliographies of primary and secondary writings are provided; critical essays, ranging from one column (on Jewish American novelist Lev Raphael) to four pages (on Marcel Proust), assess the author's written works. The essays emphasize either how the author's homosexuality affected the writings of the relatively closeted or how the more "out" authors were received in light of their openness. While some of these authors may be found in other critical sources, the approach of these highly readable essays make them invaluable to the researcher, the interested lay reader, and the library book selector alike. The volume is completed by indexes, including one by genre/subject, an appendix listing various gay book awards and recipients, and a list of additional authors not appearing in this first edition. More comprehensive than Greenwood's Contemporary Gay American Novelists (LJ 1/93) or any of the other recent forays into the field, this reference is essential for all but small branch libraries.
Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Marion Zimmer Bradley. Truman Capote. Margaret Cruikshank. Lillian Faderman. Jean Genet. Jack Kerouac. Yukio Mishima. Marcel Proust. Mary Renault. Sara Teasdale. Virginia Woolf. Marguerite Yourcenar. These are some of the 200 novelists, poets, short story writers, dramatists, journalists, editors, and writers of nonfiction featured in
Gay and Lesbian Literature. The preface notes that inclusion is based upon the gay and lesbian thematic content of a writer's work and not upon sexual identity. The most eminent and frequently studied authors writing today are emphasized, but deceased authors from the earlier portion of the century who exerted a major influence on contemporary gay and lesbian literature are also featured.
The format is similar to other St. James titles, such as Contemporary Poets. Entries include signed critical essays by a diverse group of scholars, librarians, and freelance writers, and, when available, a statement by the featured author concerning his or her own work. Brief biographies include personal informationbirth and (when appropriate) death place and date, educational background, and marriage and/or companion. A summary of the author's career is also provided, including employers, positions, and dates held. Additional biographical information includes address (when appropriate) and a list of major prizes, nominations, fellowships, and grants honoring the author. A list of writings includes dates, publishers, and production information (for plays, televised scripts, screenplays, and recordings). Also listed are adaptations based upon the author's work, locations of manuscript collections, biographical sources, major interviews, bibliographies compiled on the author, and critical sources. Five indexes provide access by name, nationality (17 countries are represented), gender, subject and genre, and gay or lesbian literary awards. The volume concludes with a list of suggested additional authors of gay and lesbian literature and a selective list of important anthologies of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and interviews. Essays by Wayne R. Dynes and Barbara G. Grier provide in-depth introductions to, respectively, gay male literature and lesbian literature.
Gay and Lesbian Literature has a broader scope than Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the U.S: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook [RBB N 1 93] and Contemporary Gay American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook (Greenwood, 1993), as only slightly more than half the writers are American and they are not all contemporary. With its international coverage, it will be a useful reference source in both academic and public libraries.
